1. Area of the Art
The present invention relates generally to automated immunochemistry instruments and methodologies, and more particularly to methods and systems for sample aliquot storage used in connection with automated immunochemistry instruments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automated immunochemistry instruments are widely used in clinical chemistry sampling and analyzing applications for performing various assays. Such automated immunochemistry instruments often incorporate a sample aliquot unit for aliquoting samples to be analyzed. The following references are found to be pertinent to the field of the present invention:                U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,099 issued to Scordato et. al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,094 issued to Froehlich et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,245 issued to Schmid;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,083 issued to Barker et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,269 issued to Barker et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,074 issued to Heath et al. (“Heath '074 patent”);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,666 issued to Hullette et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,564 issued to Mazza et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,896 issued to Margrey et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,524 issued to Forrest et al. (“Forrest '524 patent”);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,129 issued to Kurosaki et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,733 issued to Bell et al. (“Bell '733 patent”);        U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,046 issued to Fischer et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,120 issued to Degenhardt et al.;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,277 issued to Bell et al. (“Bell '277 patent”); and        U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,499 issued to Catanzariti et al.        
The Forrest '524 patent disclosed an automated multi-test capability assay apparatus in modular form for the non-sequential processing of samples for the assay. The apparatus includes a device for ensuring solid phase suspension which includes a housing, a rotatable support having means for independently rotatably mounting a vessel around a circumference of the support, and a drive wheel for rotating the mounted vessel, where the housing includes a driving surface having longer circumferential dimensions than the drive wheel and surrounding the drive wheel and engageable therewith.
The Kurosaki '129 patent disclosed an apparatus for automatically analyzing a specimen. The apparatus includes a first dispensing means for dispensing the specimen in a sample vial into a stock vial, a second dispensing means for dispensing the specimen in the stock vial into an assay vial, and a third dispensing means for dispensing the reagent into the assay vial. A cooling device is provided below a stock vial turntable for cooling the specimens contained in the stock vials.
The Heath '074 patent, the Bell '733 patent, and the Bell '277 patent also disclosed various arrangements of using a turntable with a cooler for cooling the samples and reagent contained in the turntable.
While various sample aliquot units for automated immunochemistry instruments have been developed, as disclosed in the above references, there is still a need to create and develop a new sample aliquot and storage unit that can accommodate the following two new emerging trends that are evolving in the clinical laboratory. First, there is an increase in the use of automatic sample reflex testing. Second, the laboratory automation has increased the demands for the quick release of sample tubes. These two new trends require new sample aliquot units to be capable of storing the samples for reflex testing, while supporting the high throughput of the automated immunochemistry instruments.